Ottawa Christmas Lights

[Manfred M]

We (and hundreds of other people) headed out to Parliament Hill tonight to watch the lighting up of the Christmas lights and the sound and light show. It was not the best situation for photography (lots of smoke left over from the fireworks), but I had never been before.

This is a shot of the VIP area as well as Centre Block and the Peace Tower lit up with the 2016 sound and light show. The show starts at around sunset and will be playing nightly until January 7. I hope to get back after a snowfall and with a few less people about..

[Shadowman]

Very nice.

[John 2]

Nice shot Manfred. I suspect the blue will be the appropriate colour for the coming temperatures (if they're not there already).

[madcrow]

Beautiful image.

[bje07]

Nice picture Manfred, except if you want to show empty chairs you could eliminate the FG until (above) the white projector.

[Manfred M]

Nice picture Manfred, except if you want to show empty chairs you could eliminate the FG until (above) the white projector.

You mean like this?




That was a shot from last year and I was hoping for something a little different. The smoke, chairs, barriers, lights, camera booms, etc. will all be gone now (although this type of setup will return for New Year's celebrations). I was trying for something a bit more unusual, hence the I left in the VIP section and chairs. Last year was snowless, so I am hoping to get an image with a white foreground this year.

[bje07]

Yes Manfred, every time we think it is natural for people to understand the context, for me this version is cleaner and shows a nice night view, the older a scene almost abandoned. I do the same "minor "error every time

[Manfred M]

Yes Manfred, every time we think it is natural for people to understand the context, for me this version is cleaner and shows a nice night view, the older a scene almost abandoned. I do the same "minor "error every time

This site is a very busy tourist site and it is usually extremely busy with a few dozen people milling about. The real difficulty is getting there where there are just the right number of people around to give the shot that human touch, without it being too busy.

The other issue is the site itself - it is one of those shots that I like using my 24mm shift / tilt lens on, but the projector for the lights (in a large and unphotogenic trailer) sits right where I would prefer to be standing to get the shot. The building is at the top of a hill (locally referred to as Parliament Hill), so that means I have to rack out the lens shift to the highest position which gets me the building, but also tends to cut off people in a most unattractive way. The problem I had last year is that we had no snow until the second week of January. The snow acts as a nice reflector and makes the whole Christmas theme seem more realistic. One would think that a four week span would be enough to pull off that "perfect" shot, this will be the third year that I am trying to get it.

This was one of my test shots that I took last year, and it is really the type of shot I am aiming for (with snow and a full body view). Maybe things will work out this year? I'm certainly going to try again...

[bje07]

Wow, you even got Santa Claus on the picture
Superbe (colors, framing)